Those Left Behind
by stray fishes
Summary: January, 1948. More than 2 years have passed since Diana Hale's siblings disappeared from a mysterious earthquake that buried several children beneath a school. Now, with the help of the Camera Obscura, she sets out to discover what really happened.
1. prologue

Hello. This is my original fanfiction of Fatal Frame. This idea popped into my head a few months ago, when I decided that I wanted to write something about FF that didn't have the typical Japanese mansion and stuff, but wanted to keep the same old rituals and ghosts. This story takes place in a fictional town in America, circa 1948, and is probably EXTREMELY historically inaccurate due to my lack of knowledge and because I was trying to tie a lot of things together (- w -) Still, I tried my best. (Hopefully, no one is put off by the unusual plot heh.)

I hope you enjoy. :D

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><p>prologue<p>

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><p>Ashvale Times<p>

July 18th, 1945

_School collapses in strange earthquake; missing children thought to be inside_

_This morning, around 1AM, an earthquake weighing in at a staggering 9.0 on the Richter scale, hit Ashvale. The quake, however, was concentrated in an extremely small location, with the surrounding areas left completely untouched. Neighboring residents claimed to not have felt a single thing, sleeping through the entire night without disturbance._

_The disaster occurred around the vicinity of Ashvale High, a school constructed back in the late 1800s. The entire building, once a vast and beautiful historical site, was reduced to complete rubble and debris overnight. Not a single standing remainder of the edifice is to be found._

_The same night, a number of children from the town disappeared. They were discovered to be missing the following morning by neighbors, who'd gone over to check on them. Investigations reveal that the children were not taken forcefully from their homes. _

_Missing Children List:_

_Eunice Hale (16)_

_Julian Hale (10)_

_Seth Garrison (17)_

_Daniel Garrison (12)_

_Angela Rivers (13)_

_Ava Rivers (13)_

_The children all disappeared with their siblings. The children are also orphaned. Their fathers, in the name of serving our beloved country, were killed in the line of duty while fighting overseas in the war. Whether this is linked to the disappearances, the police have yet to investigate. _

_It is, however, believed that the children had gone to the school late last night, their intentions unknown. Firemen have not finished digging completely through the debris, but a teddy bear with traces of saliva belonging to Julian Hale has been found, suggesting that he and possibly his sister had gone there that night. Other remains have yet to be found, but the conclusions are grave._

"_It is likely," says Chief Fireman Harry Thompson, "that the children are all dead. If they really were down there, then they were probably completely crushed by the debris."_

_The one remaining "survivor" of this tragic story is Diana Hale (14), the middle child of the Hale siblings. Of the three, she was the only one to not disappear during the night. Hale is currently under police custody and being questioned. _


	2. chapter one

chapter one

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><p><em>January 1948 (about 2 years later)<em>

_6:30PM_

It was time to say goodbye to this place once and for all.

Diana Hale looked around sadly at the house that she'd called her home for the last 16 years of her life, taking in the flowered wallpaper, the old stains on the rug, the dusty photographs depicting a life that had once been. Now, she was to leave it all—forever.

Her things were all packed. Her uncle, from the big city, would be here within an hour to take her away. Her suitcases were at her feet; but there was not much, just clothes and tidbits of memory that she couldn't bear to leave behind. It would be all the more painful, but she felt that she needed it, somehow, to get on in life.

She just couldn't get over it all.

Her father had gone first. The Battle of Iwo Jima, in February 1945, had suffered heavy American casualties; her father was one of them. Then her mother—who was such a frail, but loving woman—her heart had broken at the loss of her lover, and had mourned herself to the grave. The three Hale siblings were then all alone.

And then came July. The disaster had taken away her only remaining family, her only friends. Within a single year, Diana had come to be all alone. Oh, how the guilt had consumed her afterwards! The months of police investigations and interviews had left her drained, and mentally ill.

Diana, despite being heavily wrapped in her winter coat, shivered. Her black hair shuddered wildly on her shoulders. She picked up a dust-covered frame resting on the coffee table, and her heart ached at the sight of her family.

Her beautiful parents, from whom she'd inherited her dark hair and light eyes, stared out accusingly at her. This was a happy time, a time of warm smiles, before Daddy had gone off to war and Mommy had withered away.

There was adorable little Julian, who had been 9 at the time of the picture. He, with his dimpled cheeks and girlish face, giggled out at her, clutching his beloved teddy bear as he did so.

Eunice, her beautiful older sister, smiled knowingly out at her. Diana searched the monochrome face, hungrily pawing it, as though trying to scratch out a reason, a message, as to why her sister had done what she did.

_Why? Why had she gone to the school that night? Why had she taken Julian, but not me?_

This was the question she'd asked herself for months. Night after night, she'd wondered. And now, she thought bitterly, she would never know. She was leaving this place for good. For the months following the deaths, relatives had insisted she come and stay with them, but Diana was adamant on remaining. But her time was up. She could no longer care for herself, for the money was gone, and she felt as though she were deteriorating from the burden of the guilt. She had to leave.

She quickly slammed down the photograph, and buried her face in her hands. There had to be something she could do…

When the police had questioned her, pushed her and poked her to the brink of a breakdown, she'd insisted that she'd not a clue as to why her sister had acted the way she did. But, that hadn't been the truth.

Before the incident, before Mommy had died in June-their family had received a package. It contained the possessions and the gifts of Daddy, the one he'd meant to bring home when the war had finished. Opening the package had been bittersweet, for Mommy, in all her sorrow, had despaired at the sight of Daddy's old clothes and photographs and declined to see a single thing. But Eunice and Julian had rejoiced. Particularly, she remembered, at the gifts.

They were all Japanese trinkets. The foreign, oriental paraphernalia had intrigued the siblings; how queer, they'd thought, how strange! There'd been a toy with a mallet and ball attached, which Julian had quite enjoyed playing with. There was a beautiful porcelain doll, with an embroidered kimono and dots of rouge upon her white cheeks, meant for the sisters to admire. But the gifts that the two sisters were most interested in, were the books for Eunice and a heavy bundle that had been meant for Diana.

The books. They were strange things, all paper-covered and bound with string, like those paper books that children made in grade school with yarn. But these were old and yellowed, heavy and full of text and few pictures. Eunice had always been an avid reader, particularly of the occult. The books had been accompanied by a heap of English translations, graciously done by a patriotic Japanese-American soldier.

Yes, this was the clue she'd withheld from the police. Why would they bother with such a trite, minute detail anyways? They would have dismissed it with a laugh and considered her strange. They wouldn't have understood. But Diana did, she knew that the books had been _something._

Eunice had looked upon the books with hungry interest, and set upon devouring the contents with a fervor Diana had never seen before. Yes, the interest she'd held in them was utterly consuming. She'd read them day and night and take notes; when mother had died, she'd read and read even more feverishly, if that had even been possible.

She'd read and read, right up until the incident had happened.

So that was why Diana knew, for sure, that the books had to have been something. They had transformed her sister into someone she didn't know—from a beautiful young woman, into a hollow, pale ghost of a teenager.

But where were they? Letting her mind wander for a second, her eyes fell upon her suitcase, and she remembered the other gift, the one that had been meant for her.

The bundle, which had been meticulously wrapped in paper and tied with string, had turned out to be a camera. _The Camera Obscura._ The beautiful, sleek black tool, with its accordion-like body and lens surrounded by golden characters, had taken her breath away at first sight. Daddy had always known that Diana loved art; it had been the perfect gift. Diana loved it very much. It was, in fact, packed away safely in her suitcase. She'd never used it, however, for it dredged up terrible pain every time she laid eyes upon it.

But now, she thought despairingly, what was there left to lose? She sat upon the carpet and deftly opened her suitcase, not caring about the piles of clothes that fell loose and scattered to the floor. It wasn't hard to locate her treasure. Soon, she was holding the beautiful object in her hands, with the note that had come with it still wrapped around the body.

_To Diana,_ it read.

_While I was in the city, an old man came up to me with this gem. Thought you'd like it. The thing's rather interesting. He was mumbling and moaning something about seeing ghosts, and he looked frightened right out of his mind! He looked almost desperate to give it to me, so it was quite a bargain. I know you aren't afraid of those kinds of things, and this camera's quite beautiful, isn't it? He called it a Camera Obscura. I'm sure you will love it. _

_Dad._

No, she thought as she weighed the object about in her hands, she did not believe in ghosts. But there were ghosts around her. The ghosts of her past. And there was only one way to get rid of them for good. She would have to investigate.

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><p>an: Again, forgive me for any historically inaccurate things or whatnot. Bear with me, please.


	3. chapter two

_chapter two_

a/n: Sorry, it's a bit slow. Things should speed up soon enough._  
><em>

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><p>Diana stood up, still holding the camera, and trudged out of the living room and up the creaking wooden steps. Her heart was pounding. Holding the camera, it felt a bit like her father was there to protect her and guide her in a sense, but even so she felt extremely nervous as she got ready to do something that she hadn't done in months.<p>

Diana opened the door to her sister's room.

The door creaked open with an ominous whine, and Diana hesitatingly stepped in. It was dark, for the winter sun had long since disappeared. Shivering, she clutched at the camera and stepped in, holding back every impulse to turn around and pretend she'd never trespassed. With a shaking hand, she flicked on the light, and everything became illuminated at once.

She hadn't touched this room since the incident. It was too unclean already, what with the traces of the police officers still left behind. It was disgusting. Occasionally, she'd peek in whenever her heart was yearning for Eunice the most, but she'd then quickly withdraw and take to her own room for days. Everything still looked the same. Plain white walls, her sister's iron frame bed with white pressed sheets, a closet, a bookshelf, and a desk. Her sister had been more concerned with learning and knowledge than the latest fashions and movies, and the plainness of her room reflected just that.

It would be difficult to find the books and translations here, Diana thought gloomily as she looked around. Her sister had books everywhere. The bookshelf was jam-packed with thick tomes and the desk was littered with papers; though they had been the object of all of her sister's attentions, undoubtedly she had stored them well!

Diana began the search by scanning the shelf, from top to bottom, but not a single book bearing Japanese letters was there. The desk proved equally fruitless. Whatever notes her sister had taken, she must have taken with her. All that remained were sheaves of papers bearing unfinished schoolwork and the like.

Sighing, she looked around and plopped down onto the soft bed. For a moment, it was like old times…when she'd come in, lay on her bed, and she and her sister would have a bit of girl time, talking and laughing.

How she missed those days.

She fondled the camera, and traced the golden characters surrounding the lens with her finger. What could she do…? Absently, she gripped the sides of the camera, and lifted the viewfinder up to her eyes.

Seeing through the camera was odd. A ring bearing symbols, similar to the one that framed the lens, appeared in the middle. A small filament within a glass tube was visible at the top. The sight was so strange that, for a moment, Diana forgot about the search for her sister's papers. Excitedly, she began to twist and turn, looking at everything in the room through the camera.

It was then that the filament began to glow.

Diana froze in place, the camera still glued to her eye. The filament was, without a doubt, giving off a faint blue color. Yet…she realized as she turned slowly towards the desk, the faint blue was gradually growing stronger and stronger.

And it was then, as the desk drew completely into view, that the filament burned brightest of all.

For it was there that Diana saw her sister.

_Eunice._

Eunice was standing right before her desk, her head tilted downwards, with her long black hair covering her face. Her skin was ghostly, deathly pale, just about translucent. Though she couldn't tell for sure from her face, the familiar white cardigan and long black skirt confirmed it; this was her sister _looking exactly as she had the day she had disappeared._

Diana gasped. It felt as though her heart had stopped.

_It's just a dream! It's just a hallucination!_

In shock, Diana dropped the camera—but not before pressing the shutter button by accident. The camera fell onto the white sheets, and began to whir and shudder noisily. Eunice, on the other hand, had disappeared.

Diana was shaking, and her hands flew up to her trembling face. Her blood had gone cold.

_It couldn't be…Eunice is dead! I must be crazy._

At that moment, the camera stopped whirring and gave a small little cough. A photo had appeared at a slot at the bottom of the camera. Diana stared at it with fear.

_Should I look at it?_

Her hand shaking, she slowly reached for the photo, and pulled it out of the slot. She shut her eyes, too scared to look, but managed to pry them somehow out of curiosity. There, in the photo, stood Eunice as she'd seen her just before. Long black hair, slight figure, completely overwhelmed by her baggy clothing. Diana nearly fainted with fright.

But something was different. Eunice's skeletal arm was raised here, her tapering finger outstretched towards the desk. Still fearful, but now curious, Diana peered at the photo. _She wants me to look behind the desk?_

Her eyes went from the photo towards the desk. Eunice was gone now, but she could still feel her lingering presence, standing there, as though silently urging her. Diana rose to her feet and walked towards the desk, still trembling but her growing determination overcoming it all. She dropped to her knees and crawled beneath the desk.

She could see nothing, at first. Diana was almost convinced that what she'd seen was just a hallucination, and that the photo had been a trick of her imagination. But as she was about to back out, her eyes locked on a scrap of paper trapped behind the desk.

Was it…?

She reached forward and, with a bit of difficulty, managed to free the section without tearing any portion of it. Her eyes scanned the words written on the paper, though it was rather difficult, for several words had been smeared into illegibility by what appeared to be stains.

… _sacrificial victim, called the Passage, would be offered in the ritual…_

…_They are named as such because they become the gateway for the Abyss. _

_However..._

_...Their bodies are… by the….and then, the dead are able to…_

The words made absolutely no sense to her. Sacrificial victim? Abyss? Yet, despite the unfamiliarity of the terms, she still felt a shiver run down the length of her spine. It wasn't hard to guess that, whatever the original contents of this paper had been, they'd undoubtedly been describing a gruesome practice.

Still beneath the desk, Diana began to withdraw back out, when she heard a blood-chilling voice from behind her shoulder.

"_The Abyss waits for you deep below…_"

She whirled around. No one was there.

But that had been _her_ voice…

She gripped the paper tightly in her hand, and looked down at the words on the paper once more. She was frightened. No doubt that every cell, every atom in her body was urging her to stay away, to not follow the instinct that was beginning to form in her mind. But she knew now what had to be done. If Eunice had showed up, and spoken to her…then it was doubtless what was expected of Diana.

With sudden uncharacteristic determination burning in her heart, Diana stuffed the paper into her pocket, and grabbed the camera from the bed. It didn't matter that she was to leave soon.

Tonight, she would figure out the mystery behind the disappearances once and for all.


End file.
